Cliveden House wedding
Wow, what a wedding! Cliveden House is hands down the most epic wedding venue I have ever been to.
I will honestly never forget the wedding of the lovely T and A, which was happy, relaxed and just so much fun. It was also an absolute pleasure to work alongside the wonderful Nicky Todd. T and A even had their dogs in their wedding party, which was amazing. If you bring animals to your wedding (dogs, cats, anything (bonus points if it’s something like an alpaca)), it will make me a very happy photographer! I love photographing animals – especially animals in wedding costumes! How can anyone not love animals in wedding attire?
This venue reminds me so much of Hogwarts (okay pretty much everything old in England reminds me of Hogwarts). It even has tapestries hanging on the walls and suits of armour! I absolutely had to find out the history of this venue as it’s just such an impressive and grand building. I will talk more about this below the featured images for those who are interested.
It rained for the entire day, but this did not matter at all because the venue had so many lovely spots for photographs both indoors and under cover – we didn’t miss out by having rainy weather at all. This venue is perfect for those rainy days.
I was booked to photograph the ceremony onwards, but I still got a couple of sneaky last minute bridal preparation shots. The entire wedding day took place at this amazing venue; T got ready in the incredible Lady Astor Suite, the ceremony was held in the Great Hall (even the name sounds like Harry Potter!), and the wedding breakfast was held in the French Dining Room. The evening reception was back in the Great Hall.
I am a massive Beatles fan, so I was delighted to learn that the Beatles actually used this venue as the set for their film, Help in 1965.
Below is a selection of my favourite images from this incredible wedding. I loved working with T and A, they were warm, friendly and they know how to party!
If you are looking for wedding photography at Cliveden House and want a relaxed photographer who covers the wedding in an unobtrusive and documentary way, but also gets a handful of natural portraits, then please don’t hesitate to say hello.
Here is a brief summary of the history of this wonderful venue for those that are interested…
The history of this venue is exceptional.
Cliveden House is a grade I listed stately home, which functions as a luxury five star hotel and a wedding venue, surrounded by 267 acres of National Trust land. The estate was initially acquired by the Manfield family in 1605, and in 1666, the original house on the terrace was built by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham. He built it as a gift to his mistress! This guy must have been absolutely loaded – what a gift!
In 1668 there was a dual fought on the grounds (crazy stuff), resulting in the wounding and subsequent death of the Earl of Shrewsbury. It was then lived in by the 1st Earl of Orkney from 1696 onwards.
In 1737 the house was leased to Frederick Prince of Wales. When he died, Anne Countess of Orkney and her husband the 4th Earl of Inchiquin moved back in. Unfortunately in 1795 a fire destroyed the main mansion, leaving only the wings. I guess they rebuilt it, because it still looks very old!
It then suffered another fire in 1849, which destroyed the main house yet again. The Duke and Dutchess of Sutherland were living in the house at the time. This time the Queen actually saw the smoke from Windsor Castle; it must have been a pretty big fire! She sent fire engines from Windsor to help put out the fire.
In 1893, the house was purchased by William Waldorf Astor for US$1.25 million. The Astors were a very wealthy family in both the USA and the United Kingdom. I could remember the name “Astor” from the Titanic movie, so I did some research, and it turns out that John Jacob Astor IV, who died during the sinking of the Titanic, was the first cousin of William Waldorf Astor. John Jacob Astor IV was one of the richest people in the world during his lifetime. Wow, this is some seriously amazing history!
Unfortunately Lady Astor died in 1894, and due to his grief, William Astor practically became a recluse on the estate.
In 1906, William Astor’s son Waldorf was given the house. His lover, Nancy Langhorne was given a tiara during this time which contained the famous Sancy diamond. This 55 carat diamond now resides in the Lourve in Paris.
During the First World War, the house was put forward as a hospital, but it was too hard to change it into a hospital. A hospital was eventually created in the tennis court and bowling alley.
The house has been visited by a number of famous people over the years – including Winston Churchill, King George V, George Bernard-Shaw and Charlie Chaplin.
In 1961, the Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, met Christine Keeler, a 19 year old aspiring model at the Cliveden outdoor swimming pool (built by Bill Astor). The two then embarked on a brief relationship, which Profumo vehemently denied. He eventually admitted the truth, at extreme detriment to his career; he resigned. The affair actually caused the prime minister at the time, Harold MacMillan to resign on health grounds in 1963. This was the biggest political scandal in British history at the time – and it all started at this venue!
In 1969 the house was leased by Stanford University for education. It finally became a luxury hotel in 1985 – a year before I was born!
Wedding Photography at Cliveden House by Bethany Howarth Photography